Gender roles are becoming increasingly intermingled and
blurred nowadays. Conservatives blame feminism for various social problems such
as marital ruptures and teenage delinquency. Liberals counter that male
chauvinism has caused far bigger social problems such as domestic violence and
bridal burnings.
When people with such orientations start practicing bhakti,
they often stress their orientations within their conception of bhakti. Thus,
some hold that non-traditional ideologies such as feminism have caused the lack
of spirituality among women and thereby in all of society; so, social
re-spiritualization requires the repudiation of feminism. Others counter that
today the lack of spirituality plagues men too, who would only exploit women if
the clock were turned back; better to not position bhakti as antagonistic to
influential social trends such as feminism.
Either way, such attacks and counter-attacks risk missing
the problem: misdirected consciousness. The Bhagavad-gita (15.07) explains that
we all are souls, parts of Krishna, and are meant to love and serve him. Be we
men or women, conservatives or liberals, if we don’t live harmoniously with
Krishna, our consciousness gets misdirected by our mind and senses. These inner
agents of illusion torment us with various desires and conceptions. And goaded
by their torment, we end up acting in ways that torment others. Amidst such
internal and external torment, worldly conceptions such as feminism or male
chauvinism often become convenient whipping boys.
Ultimately, bhakti is transcendental to all worldly
conceptions – it is the human heart’s loving connection with the divine heart.
Whatever our personal disposition or social position, we all can cultivate
bhakti. When we focus on practicing bhakti-yoga diligently, the resulting
deepened devotion will make us more open to Krishna’s inner guidance (10.10).
With such spiritualized intelligence, we will understand how we can best act as
parts of the solution, not parts of the problem.
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